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What they said above. Mostly consider the state of the score and don't open at the 3 or 4 level with weak suits. Partner never has the hand you wish them to hold. Check out Jeff Ruben's book "The Secrets of Winning Bridge" and perhaps Larry Cohen's two books on the law of total tricks. It appears that you and partner are putting in the hard work now to become excellent players!

Personally, I never use length points except to decide whether to open with 2 Clubs. I also don't use shortness points, but instead look to the texture and suit quality. Also, I tend to open a little light at matchpoints but take care when playing imps. I dislike the rule of 20, but look to see what my major suit contains. So I might open 1 Heart (playing semi-forcing nt with Drury in 3rd seat) But I also often discount 1 point for an aceless hand and Qx AND Jx. Jeff Rubens "Secrets of Winning Bridge" is a great reference for when and what to open- developing judgment. And Kit Woolsey's book on "Matchpoints" offers great insight also. I would open 1 Heart on the last hand at matchpoints in 3rd seat. I would Not open 1 NT on the 14 point hand even with tenaces. But that depends greatly on your total system. A good friend of mine prefers 14 to 16 NT for that reason.

Most events in ACBL require the opponents to provide a recommended defense without your asking. If your club does not it should. Here. bidding 5C seems right.

Not a 2 club opener- 3 suitted hands need space. One alternative is to bid 2♦as the reverse and hear partners reply. If partner does not support the forcing heart reply then most likely 6 hearts will close the auction. Someone might guess to try 7 against a stronger team at imps.

Usually some form of double would be used to show 3 card support. Whether snapdragon, xyz, or support doubles would apply depending on your level of agreement. NT should convey info about stoppers and size. There are systems where 2 NT would show a limit raise or more, especially using Polish methods.

Good question. However, calling the Director is a duty each player owes to the rest of the participants in the event. Some times people inadvertently place a card in the wrong direction, especially if the play is fast paced. Our goal is to be very careful ourselves and in contracts like these perhaps to double check our mechanics to prevent silly mistakes such as miscounting the number of tricks needed as declarer or defender. Dummy rights are somewhat limited during play- but not after the play of the hand is over.

I agree with sfi if it is available as my hand has gotten significantly better and we are headed for game no matter what. Partner can take it from there.

This seems to be a system issue, since if partner has a perfect minimum we have a slam. Since partner has most values in our short suits we need great trumps or length in order to set up 12 tricks. Or we need a cross-ruff with partner holding the Diamond Ace. If splinter can be light we are hosed big time. He could have used a 2NT raise to check for our shortness, but did not. You can bet that we would see a trump lead (or the diamond ace) against slam. But if splinters show a beefy hand with shape then I agree 4 diamonds is the way to go. Here, I punt with 4 hearts since partner can still make one further try, which would be indicated if partner actually holds something like A hearts, KQ of spades, and the AQxxx of diamonds. With the AK of hearts partner knows what to do and should have bid a long suit first and listened to the further auction. Such nice headaches we have here.

Playing the Q would deny holding the King and probably ask for a lead of the higher suit when partner gets the lead. It just would not make sense on this hand for it to be singleton. The Q could also be an attempt to unblock from a holding such as Q9 in some instances we suppose.

The membership can decide the issue. Most clubs run more than one section and can specify what conventions are allowed in each. Now we should want to promote the game and increase membership and people playing the game. If the club is in action most days and nights you should be fine. But experimentation is a part of the growth of the game while bad conduct is the detractor. Remember when bid boxes were not in wide use? People adapt. Perhaps you could run a separate game during the month that only players with a certain level play in the top section and others in other sections ? I am sure you can work something out and emphasize lessons for less experienced players.

Spade A intending to continue spades so as to cut down a cross-ruff and thereafter defend passively. I hate using 3C that way.

Each convention needs partnership understanding and 4th suit depends n that plus some logic. I am not crazy about the 3 NT I chose, but I think with 5-4-2-2 I show a flat hand not yet interested in slam unless partner had in mind to support one of my suits or has an independent suit. Otherwise, I would just show 3S to show a minimum. If partner doesn't have one of my suits he should have a diamond stopper. Not playing 2/1 in this case amplifies that 3 diamond bidder must have direction to risk wrong-siding NT. But I have been wrong before! Good question sir.

Looks like once again we are trying robot bridge which can affect games with real partners. While 2 clubs is permissible it makes more sense with a 3 suited hand to open 1 Heart. And really 5 diamonds looks fine instead of 6 where in reality we are shooting to win an individual tourn instead. As is often the case robots cannot bid these hands = 2 nt as a second negative just makes life worse.

4H not vul- you took out his TO Double not showing values. Then, get partner to pay your damages as he should NOT double them but should pass and pray. You would bid more with values and his suits were not solid enough! All the above just relates to playing for money. EW was booked for a loss on this hand- pay out as little as possible and move on.

Interesting story. Looks like 3 hearts always makes. Once West didn't bid 4 Diamonds, the board seems lost. I like the new rule as long as ethical partnerships abound that don't arrange to lead out of turn. And, of course, we are required to call the director and not make our own rulings after an irregularity. Sometimes, it is just the rub of the green.

I'm tempted to have an urgent call requiring a quick exit, but in the mean time I will bid 3S (which should be shortness) and let partner sort it out.

This looks like a game of "chicken" after 1S. The reason North should consider bidding 4 H is looking at xxx partner won't have many spades. It is a risk but we are trying to have E-W make the final guess. If E-W doesn't find the extra club fit, it will be harder to venture slam. Now, if only my opponents didn't guess correctly so often.

Blame it on the Bridge Gods! It is a hand that you either zig or zag and the BGs answer. I vote for 4 Hearts as the bid, but have great sympathy for double or at rubber bridge 1 Heart. At least I am less likely to be doubled and pard does not need much for it to make- and if he does have a fit we might coast into slam. Suppose N-S have spades- will they now try it over 4 H? And on to the next deal no matter the result. And East would be suspended from my Club for some number of months.

Hi. Hands like this depend on the type of event, the caliber of the competition and the state of your game. So no right or wrong answer in 2/1. In 3rd seat I bid something depending on partner's expectations. In rubber bridge I would open 1 club vs Vulnerability- otherwise the state of my game rules. At most Imp events it could be difficult if I open in 1st or 2nd. This hand evaluates best if partner bids first. Precision and perhaps K-S styles make for an easy decision to bid with 2C easy at the former. That is probably why bridge is so popular- no one right answer as we must make decisions.

The most important thing is to have good partnership agreements, including what sort of suits you open at each level and in particular over a weak 2 bid what is 2nt and replies? I prefer a disciplined choice and suit in 1 and 2 seats without regard to a void issue. But a void can cause partner constructive problems about how high to bid. 2 ways asks (short or long) in combination with a size ask can help. The rule of 2.3.4 is a good guide- but you can consider what form of scoring and what is the state of your game to decide to vary from that if your partner can tolerate it. I recommend reading Kit Woolsey's Matchpoints book and Jeff Rubens great book The Secrets of Winning Bridge to guide your choices. And whatever the choices, look at the results over a large sample of hands not just a bad result in a few cases.

Percent makes sense with the following idea- award carry-over points on each of the first two events while doing your best to have everyone play each other pair at least once. Then on the final day score the event using the carryover in addition to the raw score in order to get overall for the pairs. For a large number of pairs it is likely to require a Mitchell movement, but for a smaller group a Howell type giving one winner would work. The conditions of contest would require playing all 3 days. It would be nice to award more than one trophy for a large group up to several places with newer players having their own section winner. Unfortunately we cannot keep luck from being a factor, can we?

4 Spades. Partner at Imps should be short in diamonds with sound majors. Yea it might go down but we should (better!) have no wasted values. I've been wrong before...

Yes- you are not preempting the opponents at this point. But you should have some agreement about what they look like. Here, I might Double first and then bid spades. And that fences in what a simple 1 Spade bid would show to reopen.

I think West should Q bid the A of hearts instead of 4 Clubs. The suits should perhaps be reversed diamonds then clubs- and the spade K should point to 6 Spades or 6 N to protect the diamond spots.

What was the Vulnerability? X is the usual choice, but V vs. NV I like 3NT. Partner still has a call for the final decision on the other possible Vul states. And it might depend upon the form of scoring and the state of your game to that point.